Rays pitcher Reyes slugged, Tased, arrested at Tampa bar

Rays pitcher Al Reyes, left, talks with Manager Joe Maddon, before Friday's game against Baltimore.  [James Borchuck, Times]

Update, 9:50 p.m. Reyes came in to pitch in Friday's game, got the final two outs of the eighth inning and ended up with the victory as the Rays rallied to a 10-5 win.
"Pretty long day,'' Reyes said. "It was good to come up with a win. ... Whatever happened last night I just forget about that and I tried to stay positive and focus on the game. I don't want to let anything affect me and the way I'm pitching.''

TAMPA -- Tampa Police arrested Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Al Reyes early this morning, saying the reliever was drunk and disruptive when he fell down, picked a fight and spit blood at patrons of a popular Hyde Park night spot where Jessica Sierra was arrested last year.

Reyes made a brief apology before Friday's game at Tropicana Field but took no questions and offered no explanations; Thursday was his 38th birthday. The team does not plan to discipline him, manager Joe Maddon said, and expects him to be available to pitch if needed.

    "It's one of those unfortunate isloated incidents,'' Maddon said. "I don't really believe you're going to see that happen again with Al. We're just going to move beyond it. It's unfortunate that it occurred.''

Reyes said: "I tried to have a good time on my birthday but I guess that was the worst one. I just want to apologize again to my teammates, the organization, the owner and the fans for what happened last night.''

Witnesses told police the incident started around 2:30 a.m. at the Hyde Park Cafe, 1806 W Platt St., when Reyes fell against a ceramic pot inside the bar. Thinking someone had pushed him, police said Reyes began exchanging words with patron Eduardo Mora.

Mora then punched Reyes in the face, getting the attention of the Hyde Park Cafe's bouncers. Meanwhile, police said in a news release, Reyes "began to spit blood on the people in the area and began to swing his arms about."

The bouncers tried to control Reyes, but the 6-foot-1, 240-pound right-hander kept pushing them away. A Tampa Police officer working extra duty at the bar stepped in and yelled, "Stop Police!," but Reyes "continued spitting blood and thrashing about," according to a police incident report.

Moments later, the officer warned Reyes he was going to Taser the pitcher, and he did, knocking him to the bar floor. Ignoring police commands to stay down, authorities said Reyes got up and was Tasered a second time.

Reyes calmed down and was treated for a cut to his nose, police said. He refused to be transported to a hospital.

Reached at home Friday, Mora, 31, said he never hit Reyes. His friend did, Mora said. But he declined to name him. He said a woman at the bar witnessed the punch and can vouch for Mora's innocence. He also declined to provide her name but said he would provide his soon-to-be hired attorney with her information.

Mora's story goes like this: He was drinking at the bar with his friend, when his friend disappeared. All of a sudden, a woman near the bar turned to Mora and said, "Did you see what your friend did?"

Mora turned and saw Reyes holding his hand to his nose, which was gushing blood. Mora looked for his friend, but the man was gone. Reyes, who seemed to have been drinking heavily all night, began reaching out for people, Mora said.

"All of a sudden, he started touching everybody," Mora said. "He was lost. He just got hit. He was trying to find out who hit him."

Reyes got ahold of Mora, who was about three feet away, and bled all over his T-shirt. He didn't think Reyes was spitting blood, he said. It was just gushing out of him.

"That's when the bouncers got all over me, and they were really aggressive to me. I didn't do anything to anybody," he said. "Nobody saw anything. Everybody's just assuming things. I'm really upset."

Mora said he didn't see Reyes get Tasered because the bouncers had him on the floor.

Mora said if he had hit Reyes, he wouldn't have stuck around immediately afterward.

"I should have left after he got hit," he said, "but I didn't have anything to hide."

Mora, who said he works as a mortgage broker, has been arrested before on charges of DUI and domestic violence battery, according to state arrest records. He was charged with battery on Friday after the fight with Reyes.

Reyes was charged with affray. Both were released on their own recognizance.

Tampa police spokesman Jim Contento, a retired sergeant, said it's common for police to release suspects in these type of incidents without booking them in jail. He didn't expect police to press more charges, he said.

"They're very minor midsdemeanor charges," he said. "They have ties to the community and we know they're going to show up in court."

A Tampa police spokeswoman didn't know who Reyes was with at Hyde Park Cafe and Mora said he didn't recognize the pitcher or anyone with him. He didn't notice if Reyes was having a birthday party or not.

Police have been called more than 130 times to the Hyde Park Cafe in the last year, a place Contento called "busy" for police. Early Friday, police were summoned there three times, according to a log of police calls. Two seemed to be related to Reyes' arrest.

But the last call came at 3:55 p.m. -- hours afterward -- reporting a fight.

Hyde Park Cafe officials could not be reached Friday.

Casey Cora and Justin George, Times staff writers

Hours before home opener, Rays fans are ready

Reliever Al Reyes greets fans and hands out cups in the rotunda of Tropicana Field as the doors open for the Rays home opener.  [James Borchuck, Times]

ST. PETERSBURG - Four and a half hours before the home opener, hardcore Tampa Bay Rays fans were ready with stocked coolers, games, barbecues and an array of T-shirts from past seasons.

Ron Kaiser, 49, and his son Pete, 24, landed their favorite parking spot under a tree so thick with spring growth that they didn't need their canvas tent for shade.

They told stories about going to games a decade ago in the Rays' opening years, when Ron pulled Pete out of school to start tailgating under the interstate in the morning for an evening game.

"That was the coolest day," Pete remembers, drinking a Red Stripe and smoking a cigarette. "That was awesome."

They remembered the first and last fireworks in the Trop, when they got smoked out in year two. But just because these fans love the baseball doesn't mean they'll cheer for the franchise's every move.

They wear T-shirts reading "Devil Rays." They boycotted the team one year, when they closed down nose-bleed seats and charged too much for other seats. They have no qualms about voicing their opinions, including about the idea of replacing the indoor Trop with an outdoor, waterfront stadium.

"I like the new look, and there's nothing wrong with the Trop," Ron says. "They cannot build the broiler. They put us downtown in a tent and that's going to be the broiler."

"They think attendance is bad now..." Pete chimes in.

The sounds of Simon and Garfunkel drift over from the Budweiser tent, where two guys are strumming acoustic guitars and harmonizing.

Ron and Pete don't like the new logo, either.

"I'm boycotting that s---" Pete says. "I'm not going to be a sun Ray. I'm a Devil Ray. They went pattycake on us."

The game starts at 7:10 p.m.

--Stephanie Garry, Times Staff Writer

Anti-stadium group accuses Rays of illegal lobbying

ST. PETERSBURG -- The group trying to stop the Tampa Bay Rays from building a new $450-million stadium at Al Lang Field has accused the team of illegally lobbying City Council to support the plan.

Members of St. Pete Preserve Our Wallets and Waterfronts say team executives broke city rules when they handed out T-shirts at a public hearing last month that referenced the Rays' web site for the stadium proposal, www.majorleaguedowntown.com. That site suggests Hines, the developer the Rays are working with on plans for Tropicana Field, already has been awarded the work -- when in fact the city is in the middle of an open and competitive bidding process, said former City Council member, POWW member and attorney Kathleen Ford.

"The ... process has been tainted," Ford wrote in a letter to the city, which also cites as examples the discussion of the Rays' proposal at the Governor's Baseball Dinner last week, and references in trade magazines that discussed the project as if Hines already had won the work. You can read Ford's entire letter here.

Ford and POWW members are asking the city to reject Hines' bid or cancel the entire bidding process. City officials say that's unlikely to happen.

Complete coverage: Ballpark by the bay

-- Aaron Sharockman, Times Staff Writer

Yankees minor league player arrested in Tampa

TAMPA -- Austin Michael Krum, a 22-year-old minor league player for the New York Yankees, didn't know how to take no for an answer, according to Tampa police.

Bouncers tossed the Texas outfielder out of Tia's Tex Mex Restaurant and Bar, on Fowler Avenue around 2 a.m. Saturday after he tried to start a fight, police said.

Two uniformed Tampa police working security for the bar were outside, and were told that Krum had worn out his welcome, police said. The officers told Krum to leave or risk arrest, and repeated this warning 10 or 15 times, police said. They "physically escorted him off the property,'' only to hav him come back.

Finally, as they moved to arrest him, Krum balked, pulling away, and had to be taken to the ground for handcuffing, police said.

He was charged with trespass after warning and resisting an officer without violence.  No one was injured, police said. Krum was booked into the Hillsborough County Jail, and was released on $1,000 bail.

-- Times Staff

 

City Council agrees to seek Trop proposals

UPDATE (4 p.m.): The City Council agrees to move forward with the request for proposals 7-1. Council member Herb Polson voted no, saying things were moving too fast.

UPDATE (3:30 p.m.): ST. PETERSBURG -- City Council members right now are meeting to decide whether to issue a request for proposals to developers to redevelop the 86-acre Tropicana Field site. Based on comments at a workshop earlier today, the measure appears likely to pass.

Under the city's timetable, developers would have until March 18 to submit a proposal to buy and redevelop the Tropicana site.

The issuance of a request for proposals does not commit the city to move forward, senior city development administrator Rick Mussett said. But critics say the decision to do so would at least give the appearance that the city is moving ahead.

The Tampa Bay Rays are pushing the accelerated timetable, saying they hope to have a vote on their $1-billion redevelopment plan -- which includes a new downtown stadium and a redeveloped Tropicana Field site -- in November.

Council members started a morning workshop deciding whether the public should be able to speak during today's discussion. A majority of council members said no, saying there either wasn't enough time to notify the public or a real purpose to them speaking.

Instead, the council agreed to hold three public hearings on the stadium plan. The first public hearing has been scheduled for 6 p.m. Feb. 21.

"This is a big RFP, but ... I would think the appropriate time for public input would be better when the proposals were made," council member Jeff Danner said. "All we're doing today is asking a question."

"We're really gathering information," said council member Bill Dudley.

Council members Herb Polson and Wengay Newton said the council should allow public input.

"It looks like we're shutting (people) out," Newton said.

- Aaron Sharockman, Times staff writer

Rays planning waterfront ballpark

ST. PETERSBURG - The Tampa Bay Rays are planning a $450-million stadium on the downtown St. Petersburg waterfront site of Al Lang Field.

The stadium, with about 35,000 seats, would be paid for primarily by the team, which would contribute about $150-million, along with the proceeds of the sale of development rights to Tropicana Field. The team hopes to attract a private developer to build a large retail/residential complex at the Tropicana Field site. The team also would seek as much as $60-million in future state sales-tax revenues, which would require approval by the Legislature.

"We are excited about the possibilities of these projects, and the economic benefits that they would bring to our community,'' Rays president Matt Silverman said at a late Friday night news conference at Tropicana Field. "We would certainly involve the public in any process related to this.''

St. Petersburg voters would need to approve the new stadium because it is public property. The city would attempt to sell the land to the county so it wouldn't have to pay property taxes. The Rays would ask for a longterm lease.

The new stadium would be open-air, but it could be covered with sail-like material on a cabling system. Some seating areas would be air conditioned.

The stadium would be built on the site of the longtime spring training stadium that the team is leaving next year.

The new stadium would be positioned so that balls hit over the right-field fence would splash into the water, similar to the Giants stadium in San Francisco.

-- Aaron Sharockman and Marc Topkin, Times staff writers

Devil Rays pitching coach pleads no contest to DUI

ST. PETERSBURG -- Tampa Bay Devil Rays pitching coach Jim Hickey (left) today pleaded no contest to charges of DUI and leaving the scene of an accident involving property damage in connection with a Sept. 30 accident.

Hickey, 46, of St. Cloud, had his license suspended for six months and was placed on probation, with a provision that the probation could be terminated early if Hickey met certain conditions, according to his attorney, Jack Helinger of St. Petersburg.

Those conditions included serving 50 hours of community service, attending DUI school and paying $645 in fines and court costs. Hickey already has performed the community service, attended the school and paid the fines and court costs, Helinger said. He also already has paid restitution.

Under those circumstances, Helinger said, it's not unusual for a first-time offender's probation to be terminated early once those conditions of the sentence have been met.

"This was handled exactly as anybody else would have been handled for a first-time offense," he said.

County Judge William Overton withheld an adjudication of guilt on the charge of leaving the scene of an accident, Helinger said. He expected that a separate misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest without violence would be dropped by the state. Court records show that that count was closed administratively and folded into the DUI charge last week.

Hickey was charged with running his silver pickup truck into the back of another pickup truck being driven by a Rays bat boy near Tropicana Field shortly after the team returned from its last game in Toronto. The bat boy, Matthew Felix Carlson, pulled over, but Hickey took off toward Interstate 275, police said. An undercover officer who saw the accident followed him and called to other police who pulled Hickey over.

Pulled over at Gandy Boulevard, Hickey tried to put his car in gear and drive away, police said. Officers took him from the car after he initially refused to get out. As he got out, he stumbled and fell, and then tensed his muscles and put his hands under his chest after falling down. He refused to remove his hands, but police eventually got his arms out and handcuffed him.

Hickey also refused to take a Breathalyzer or blood test, police said. That kind of refusal results in an automatic one-year suspension of a driver's license. Helinger said that issue was not addressed in court today and declined to discuss the matter further.

Hickey joined the Rays in November after being dismissed by Houston, where he was the major league pitching coach for 2 1/2 seasons after 13 years as a minor league coach.

A team representative could not be reached immediately, but the team previously has said it had not decided whether to retain Hickey. Helinger said Hickey hopes to remain with the team.

"His family and baseball has been his life, so most certainly he wants to, and we hope that will be the case," Helinger said after the hearing.

-Times staff writer

[Booking photo courtesy of St. Petersburg Police Department]

Dukes packs for Dominican Republic without visiting kids

TAMPA -- Elijah Dukes had less than four hours to decide today whether he wanted to see two children he shares with his estranged wife before leaving Wednesday for the Dominican Republic.

Hillsborough Circuit Judge J. Kevin Carey gave Dukes permission over the weekend to spend two hours on Saturday and again on Sunday with the young children he has with NiShea Gilbert, who has filed for divorce from the inactive Devil Rays outfielder.

Dukes never saw the children because of confusion over logistics, his attorney Grady Irvin said in court today. At the conclusion of a status hearing on Dukes' divorce, Carey said Dukes could have until 8 p.m. to decide if he wanted one last visit with his children before leaving to play winter baseball in the Dominican.

Following the hearing, Irvin and Dukes declined to talk about it any further.

In court, Dukes told the judge he no longer wanted to pay child support if Gilbert continued making it difficult for him to visit his children.

"The one thing I will no longer stand for is to pay money for kids I'm no longer able to be a father to," Dukes said. "I'm done. I'm tired of fighting for something that was given to me. I was given the right to be his father when I signed his birth certificate. I was given the right to be his father when she said, 'I'm pregnant.'"

Dukes said he's seen his children three times in the past eight months. Until recently, a restraining order legally kept him from visiting them.

Also during the hearing, many of the same issues about unpaid attorney's fees and other money issues that have dominated the case continued to be discussed.

Catherine Real, Gilbert's attorney, said she still has not received a $20,000 payment for her fees to which Dukes agreed. Irvin said he has the money in a trust account, where he thought it should stay until the case was resolved, because he had concerns of how Real would allocate it for her costs.

Carey ordered that Irvin turn over $10,000 by 5 p.m. Wednesday. The remaining money would be due after the judge has reviewed transcripts of the hearing where Dukes agreed to pay Real $45,000 over a series of installments.

Real also said that Dukes has not paid child support or alimony, which was due Oct. 1. He also did not pay the entire amount for September, she said, leaving him owing Gilbert a past due amount of $7,061, Real said.

On a conference call with Carey about the case on Thursday, Real asked to withdraw as Gilbert's attorney. She cited difficulty with Dukes complying with the judge's orders as one of her reasons.

Today, Real said she came back because Gilbert insisted.

"She's a nice person," Real said.

- Kevin Graham, Times staff writer

Devil Rays coach charged with DUI, hit and run

The pitching coach of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays was arrested by St. Petersburg police late Sunday and charged with DUI, hit and run and resisting arrest without violence.

Police said an undercover officer saw James J. Hickey, 45, run his silver pickup into the back of a green pickup at First Avenue and 16th Street S, in front of Tropicana Field. The green pickup was driven by Devil Rays batboy Matthew Felix Carlson, and both men were stopped at a traffic light, said St. Petersburg Police Department spokesman George Kajtsa.

Carlson pulled his 1998 Chevrolet S10 pickup truck over to the side of the road, but Hickey took off toward Interstate 275. The officer, who was not in a marked car or uniform, followed him up Interstate 275 and communicated with other officers, who stopped him north of Gandy Boulevard.

"I made a horrible mistake," Hickey said in a phone interview. "It was a total lack of judgment. I apologize for that. It's inexcusable. I take total responsibility for my actions and I'll face up to it and make it right."

Hickey would not say where he was though he did say he wasn't with anyone from the team. He said  he was not in a fight.

According to a St. Petersburg Police Department affidavit, Hickey pulled over for Police Officer Steven W. Sprout at Gandy Boulevard but then tried to put the car in gear and drive away. Hickey refused to get out of the car, Kajtsa said, and was brought out by officers. He then stumbled when he got out of the car and fell to the ground.

Police said Hickey tensed his muscles and put his hands under his chest after falling down on his face. He refused to remove his hands, but police eventually managed to get his arms out and handcuff him.

Hickey had a strong odor of alcohol, his speech was slurred and he swayed and appeared disoriented, the police report said. He refused to take a breathalyzer or blood test.

Hickey's booking photo shows a large scrape or bruise on his right cheek and a cut over his eye. He was booked at the Pinellas County Jail at 3:29 a.m. and was released on bond at 7:58 a.m.

The Rays finished their final game of the 2007 regular season Sunday afternoon in Toronto.

Devil Rays Executive Vice President Andrew Friedman said in a statement: "Jim was very apologetic and ashamed for the lack of discretion leading to this situation.  The Devil Rays organization is very disappointed in the poor personal behavior which precipitated this incident.  We expect Jim will face this incident honestly and appropriately.''

As for whether he cost himself his job, Hickey said:  "I certainly put my job in jeopardy. They have every right to go in any direction they want to."

Times staff writers Leonora LaPeter Anton, Marc Topkin, Abhi Raghunathan and Carolyn Edds contributed to this report.

Judge tells Dukes to pay wife's attorney or face jail

TAMPA -- A Hillsborough County judge threatened inactive Devil Rays player Elijah Dukes with jail time today, if he continues withholding $45,000 he agreed to pay his estranged wife's attorney.

"This gentleman will obey no court orders unless you put him in jail," said Catherine Real, the attorney for Dukes' wife NiShea Gilbert.

Hillsborough Circuit Judge J. Kevin Carey later told Dukes that if he doesn't pay Real or continues to be late with child support payments, he will issue a warrant for his arrest.

Dukes missed a $20,000 payment that was due to Real by 5 p.m. Monday, she said in court. The judge gave him until 5 p.m. Friday to pay it. Another $20,000 payment is due on Oct. 5, with the final $5,000 due Oct. 31.

Real said she plans to put the money in a trust for the court to hire an attorney ad litem for the 3- and 2-year-old children that Dukes and Gilbert share. Real said the only payment she has received has been $500 from Gilbert. She doesn't plan to on taking any fees for the case, she said, only asking for the costs associated with representing Gilbert.

"This is not fun, nor is this profitable to me. I'm taking no penny," Real told the judge, reminding him that she has filed a motion to withdraw as Gilbert's attorney.

The hourlong hearing today was set for Carey to draft a visitation schedule for Dukes to see his children. Instead, it turned into another in a series of verbal battles with attorneys for the judge's attention and few results.

At the start of the hearing, Grady Irvin, Dukes' criminal defense attorney, said Dukes had decided to waive his right to see his children for a while. He plans to head to the Dominican Republic on Oct. 10 for winter baseball and wants to focus on his career. His divorce has been distracting and stressful, he said.

"Just over the time of this whole divorce preceding thing, I've lost touch with my other kids, and that's not something I'm willing to sacrifice," Dukes told the judge. "In order for me to get back on the field, I have to get this situation behind me."

Dukes and his attorney pointed to a situation last week, when Dukes spent time with his children for the first time in weeks after a judge dropped a restraining order that kept him from seeing them. Dukes and Gilbert had agreed he could pick the children up from daycare on Sept. 19. Dukes said Gilbert gave him the okay to keep the children overnight.

Gilbert said he was to have them home by 8:30 p.m. When he didn't show up, she called him repeatedly on his cell phone. He didn't didn't return to the children until the next morning.

Dukes said he needs not to create situations for those types of misunderstandings when he has to focus on his career right now.

"I can always come back and fight later," Dukes said. "I've got to pick and choose my battles, and now is not the time."

Also during the hearing, Real told the judge she has received and reviewed medical records from the Menninger Clinic in Houston, where Dukes was treated for drug abuse and mental issues. She declined to say publicly what she found in the report. For weeks, Real has said it was a key piece to determining Dukes' mental health as he and Gilbert fight for custody of their children.

"Oh, I've got it. I've got it now," Real said. "I don't think it would be beneficial for Mr. Dukes to have that report in the public record at this time."

The judge asked Real to provide him with a copy and to file a copy in the divorce file under seal, so it cannot be read by the public.

Kevin Graham, Times staff writer

Dukes' wife: Don't turn over records

TAMPA -- Elijah Dukes' estranged wife says she no longer wants his medical records turned over to her attorney.

"I think that this would be damaging to his career and that it would not benefit me receiving this report," NiShea Gilbert, who is seeking a divorce from the Devil Rays player, wrote in a letter to Dukes' attorney.

Hillsborough Circuit Judge J. Kevin Carey had set a deadline of 5 p.m. Tuesday for Dukes' attorney to give Catherine Real a copy of medical records from Dukes' stay at the Menninger Clinic in Houston.

Real, Gilbert's attorney, could not immediately be reached for comment.

On Tuesday, Real told the Times that she had not received the medical records but stopped short of calling it a violation of the court's order. She declined at that time to elaborate.

Belinda Lazzara, Dukes' attorney, received an e-mail with a 3:13 p.m. timestamp from Gilbert on Tuesday. She attached the letter asking Lazzara to not fax or mail Dukes' Menninger medical records.

Lazzara filed an emergency motion with the court, asking the judge to issue a stay in having to compel production of the records. Dukes was treated for mental issues and drug abuse at the clinic, his attorney has said. Real wants to know the extent of his evaluation and treatment and have an addictions specialist review the clinic records.

Real says the records are a key part in understanding Dukes' mental health as he and Dukes fight for custody over their two young children.

In her letter, Gilbert said she would notify Real of her decision.

"I am sending Catherine a letter today informing her that I just want to go to mediation to get this divorce over," Gilbert wrote.

-- Kevin Graham, Times staff writer

Attorney: I haven't received Dukes' records

TAMPA -- The attorney for Elijah Dukes' estranged wife said she had not received medical records about his stay at a Texas clinic by a court-ordered deadline of 5 p.m. today.

"We have not received it, and some things will be kicking up about that tomorrow," said Catherine Real, an attorney for NiShea Gilbert. "Some things are happening. I wouldn't say there's a violation."

Real declined to elaborate further but said she planned on talking further with Gilbert Wednesday about her divorce case against the Devil Rays player.

Dukes' attorney could not be reached for comment.

On Monday, Hillsborough Circuit Judge J. Kevin Carey gave until 5 p.m. today for the attorney to give Real medical records on his stay at the Menninger Clinc in Houston. At a July hearing, Dukes' attorney said he had been treated there for mental issues and drug abuse.

Real wants to know the extent of Dukes' treatment at the clinic and have an addictions specialist review the records. She says they are a key piece in knowing about Dukes' mental health as Dukes and Gilbert fight for custody of their two young children.

Dukes ordered to pay alimony

TAMPA --- After a contentious court hearing, a judge ordered Tampa Bay Devil Rays player Elijah Dukes to pay his estranged wife more than $3,300 a month in temporary alimony as their divorce goes forward.

Also at the hearing Monday, Dukes, who was taken off the Rays roster last month, acknowledged under oath that he had smoked marijuana. His wife, NiShea Gilbert Dukes, had accused him of using marijuana every day during their marriage and asked that he be tested for anabolic steroids and testosterone supplements as part of a question over custody of the children.

Hillsborough Circuit Judge Kevin Carey ordered Dukes to pay his wife $3,303 a month in temporary alimony. Dukes also said he would take a paternity test regarding his youngest child, though he did not dispute he is the father.

He said in court that he had just returned from a one-week health treatment in Houston to address his psychological and drug issues. NiShea Dukes asked the court for counseling for her son, whom she said had been affected by the controversy over Dukes and was "acting out."

Dukes has been under scrutiny since his wife accused him of threatening to kill her and her children.

Monday's hearing was contentious.

The judge had said he thought the hearing would take an hour. It took two hours, with the judge constantly telling them to hurry things up as attorneys on both sides argued back and forth. Dukes kept speaking up, drawing admonitions from the judge not to speak unless he was being asked a question.

-- Abbie VanSickle, Times staff writer

Photos: Elijah Dukes, top right, with attorney Peter Meros; inset, NiShea Gilbert Dukes; by Carrie Pratt | Times.

Dukes alimony hearing postponed

TAMPA -- A hearing on whether Elijah Dukes' estranged wife will get temporary alimony and child support was postponed Friday after Dukes didn't show up.

A judge ordered the outfielder, who was dropped from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays roster last month, to appear in court on Monday so the hearing could go forward.

There was confusion over whether Dukes knew of the hearing in Hillsborough Circuit Court Friday. His wife, NiShea Gilbert Dukes, is seeking the support while their divorce proceedings go forward. 

-- Abbie VanSickle, Times Staff Writer

(Times photo by Carrie Pratt:  NiShea Gilbert, left,  speaks with her attorney, Catherine W. Real, and law clerk Joshua Teets after the hearing)

Dukes ordered to stay away from wife for year

PLANT CITY – A Hillsborough County judge granted a one-year restraining order to NiShea Gilbert, left, the wife of Tampa Bay Devil Ray Elijah Dukes.

The order means Dukes, who waived his appearance and was not present in the Hillsborough Circuit Court in Plant City, cannot contact his wife for one year.

As part of the ruling handed down by Circuit Judge William Levens, Dukes is ordered to undergo psychological evaluation before he is allowed to see his children. Also under the order, Dukes is not allowed to possess weapons.

"I'm just happy that I've got it for a year, and I can move forward," Gilbert, 26, said outside the courtroom.

Gilbert said her life lately had been "hell" and that she hopes that the psychological evaluation will get Dukes, left, the help she feels he needs.

"He just needs to get help so he can be a normal, functioning citizen," she said.

Gilbert said she wasn't surprised Dukes was absent.

"He never shows up to court," said Gilbert, accompanied by her mother Mary, who added that the past few weeks had been difficult

"I'm just glad it's all over," Mary said.

Gilbert's attorney, Dale Gabbard, said the next step will be arranging a hearing to determine child support and alimony.

-- By Carrie Weimar, Times staff writer

Previous stories:
- Elijah Dukes' troubled past
- Ballplayer's wife: He threatened me, kids
- Without cooperation, charges are unlikely
- Shelton column: Dukes' path far too well traveled